Title: Toward the Sky/Colossians 3:1-11
Contents I can't tell you how sad it was because I couldn't speak English freely when I was studying theology while I was in England. On the day of the entrance ceremony, I had the opportunity to speak with Ms. Joyce, the wife of the university's dean, Dan Beeby. He was very kind to me from Korea and asked me what was the most uncomfortable for me. When I replied that he had the most difficulty with language above all else, he asked if he could come to his house after school the next day. He seemed to be trying to help me because my English is so short.
After that, I always went to the dean's house after school studies to discuss the Bible with my wife, so I had a good opportunity to not only improve my language skills but also broaden my horizons of the Bible and faith. The wife would sometimes ask me to accompany her to Birmingham Station, where there are many homeless people. There he would take the starving alcoholics to a restaurant and buy them a meal. Her life has always been steeped in the love of Christ.
I received a lot of love from him. Not only did he teach me English, but he also showed me how to live as a Christian. A few years ago, I received a letter from her husband, Dr. Vivi, saying that he had passed away, and it was heartbreaking to me that I had never been to the anointing of the beneficiary. That was the heart of the debtor who could not repay the love he received.
According to a recent Gallup Korea survey, it was reported that Christians have the highest number of religious people in Korea. Christians account for 20.3%, Buddhism 18.3%, and Catholicism 7.4%. Despite the fact that Christians make up 1/5 of our country's population and the ruling class accounts for more than 1/3, our society is so dark that it is really unfortunate that the love of Christ does not appear in our lives.
Our belief in the Lord is closely related to the question of how we should act and live. Faith in Christ must be accompanied by works. So, the words that the Holy Spirit gave to the church in Colossae through Paul, the man of God, come as words of great instruction to us who need to restore true faith toward a new age.
1. I told you to find the one above.
Since the fall of Adam, we humans have been placed under the power of sin and death and are in a state of incapacity. But Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came and died on the cross to open the way for us to salvation. If anyone believes in the death of Jesus on the cross as an event to atone for their sins, we will be born again. Our old self, who had no choice but to perish before believing in Jesus, died on the cross with Jesus and the spirit of the resurrected Christ will live in union with us. Those who died with Jesus will be resurrected with Jesus. “If we have been united in the likeness of his death, then we shall also be united in the likeness of his resurrection” (Romans 6:5). So now we are hidden in God with Christ. Although it may seem insignificant now, its glory will be revealed on the day the Lord returns.
Our present life as Christians belongs to heaven. Therefore, we Christians must seek spiritual things, that is, heavenly things, and live a heavenly life. We must seek new things. That's why Paul said, "Seek the things above" (Colossians 3:1). It means to seek new things, heavenly things. This does not mean that we should turn our backs on the world and stay in the mountains, in prayer halls, or in churches. Our bodies are on earth, but our minds must be in heaven. It means to see, think, and judge things on earth from a heavenly point of view.
We must keep in mind that we who have been saved through Jesus are in heaven with Christ. When the Israelites left Egypt and reached Kadesh-Barnea, 10 of the 12 Canaanite spies gave negative reports. “The people I saw there were tall, … we were like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we must have been like them in our eyes” (Numbers 13:32,33). They said that God would give them the land, but they did not believe the fact and only saw the visible phenomena. They did not believe in the Word of God and were obsessed with the problems of reality. This unbelief had terrible consequences, and they ended up wandering in the wilderness for 40 years. During the 40 years of the wilderness, the first generation of the exodus died in the wilderness except for Joshua and Caleb.
Only Joshua and Caleb believed the word of God. Joshua and Caleb were able to overcome despite the hardships of 40 years in the wilderness. It is because they lived in God. They found the above. I lived by faith. Faith is living boldly by believing the word of the Lord, no matter how difficult the reality is.
When our country's president was a savage, things didn't go his way. When I was the leader of the opposition party, everything just went wrong. But now, with one word of his command, banks and chaebols can be saved or destroyed. It's because he's in the Blue House.
We Christians are those in heaven with Christ. We have to look at all the problems of the world with the value of heaven. As one who is in God, we must do all our thoughts, words, and actions. We must think only of the Lord. You must worship only the Lord.
“If my heart is happy just thinking of the Savior, how much better when I see the Lord’s face” (Chapter 85).
When we live together with Christ as heavenly people, we truly live a new life, a changed life. Find the one above.
2. We must throw away the old things.
I was in trouble because of thieves in a certain country. So the king decided to inflict severe punishment on those who steal his heart. So the first offender cut off his right hand, and the second time he robbed, he cut off his left hand. But the man was arrested again. I found out how this man stole, and he stole with his teeth. So it is said that the king lamented when he saw that his bad deeds were not corrected no matter how severe the punishment was.
That's right. It is impossible to correct wrong conduct until the inside of a person is changed. Neither the law nor the law nor anything else. To live a new life, you need a renewed personality. If we Christians want to live a new life by faith, we must receive Christ in our hearts and be born again as the person of Christ. So the apostle Paul, who lived a completely new life through meeting Christ, confessed, "I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me" (Galatians 2:20). . It means that the Spirit of Christ that we have opened our hearts to and received will guide our lives.
Those who are led by Christ will live a truly transformed life. So, the true characteristic of Christians is that they throw away their old life and old disposition and are born again into a new personality. We must put off our old self, because Christ is in us. To emphasize this, Paul says, "Let the members of the earth die." The earthly members are “fornication, uncleanness, lust, evil passions, and covetousness” (verse 5), which Paul even calls covetous idolatry. After all, this verse points to two attributes of the earth that we must forsake. It is sexual sin and greed for riches. These two things are what corrupts and stumbles man. That's why Emerson said, "If a man seduces with money and a pretty woman and overcomes it, then he is a perfect person." These words show that sexual lust and lust for wealth are the most difficult tests to overcome as a human being.
Paul goes on to talk with the old man about what we should put off: "Now put off all these things, that is, wrath and malice and slander and shameful speech of your mouth. You shall not lie to one another... "(Verses 8, 9). These are all indications of the sin of speaking. In particular, lying is a really shameful sin. You shouldn't get caught up in this. But in fact, these are everyday sins that we fall into too easily until we believe in Jesus. But now that we have Jesus Christ in our hearts, we must be able to overcome these sins as well. When our hearts are renewed, our words and actions naturally change. That's why today's Word says, "Put off the old man and his deeds" (verse 9).
We need to get rid of these filthy things completely. Now that you are a new creature, how can you be immersed in the filth of the past? Since we have become new people, we must cleanse ourselves of such sins. We should not even think about the appearance of sin. We are now in God with the Lord. We must bear in mind that we are truly holy people.
3. We must form the image of God.
God created human beings in His image, but after the fall of mankind, humans were stained with sin, so the image of God was not seen and only the image of a sinner remained. However, as we accept Jesus, if we put off our old life, the image of God will be revealed to us. Because the Spirit of Christ who indwells us is God. So now, as we continue to grow in the Word of God, we can restore the image of God. That's why today's Word refers to the saints who have put on the new man, "who have been renewed in knowledge after the image of him who created him" (verse 10).
We must read the Word of God until the image of God is fully formed in our lives. Set a time, read the Bible at least a few chapters a day, meditate on the words of grace received from there, and apply them in your life. God provides the necessary words of the day through our time of meditation. If we cast away our own thoughts and desires and obey the Word of God every day, we will live a victorious life every day, and the image of God and the character of Christ will be revealed in our lives. Then we will stand firm as people of God.
I pray. I hope that among those who read, listen to, and participate in the Bible study group at our church, there will be many vessels that can save our country from crisis. “It lived the word of God and was powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, joints and marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12). We believe that the living and active Word of God puts off our old life and puts on the new man. We must continue to grow spiritually, but spiritual growth is achieved only through the Word of God.
Dear all! Our old self died through the death of Jesus Christ on the cross, and through His resurrection we live as a new person. We must always find the above. Although we live on earth, we are spiritually heavenly. We must live with the heavenly mindset and values. We must cast off all the dirty old things and be renewed through the Word, so we must become mature disciples of the Lord. Let's win by praying that we will live without shame as those who live with the Lord.